Five Nights at Percy's : Hero Location
by NotSweetSkills0112943
Summary: They needed a mechanic. Who better than someone wanted by the police, for reasons unknown? So they went to Leo Valdez.
1. Welcome New Friends

Greetings and Salutations! I tried a story like this on my old account, and I kept the name for the most part, but I think this version of it may be much better than that first attempt.

Hope you guys enjoy, and... I don't know, listen to some FNAF songs or something.

(6-10-20... Finally getting around to fixing typos. Be on the lookout!)

* * *

"A mechanic? What for?" Jason asked.

Recap; Leo, Piper, and Jason were camping out in Half-Blood hill for a picnic, and a random dude with a purple security guard outfit walked up to them and asked for a mechanic, or technician, or whatever they were after. Piper and Jason being Piper and Jason went immediately into overprotective mode.

Leo mentally facepalmed. He was the one with the fire powers, yet his best friends insisted on protecting him from every little threat. That was probably his own fault, though. Going down in a fiery explosion, dying, then coming back to life two months later tends to do that to people.

"That's classified information. We just need a mechanic," said the guard.

"I'm the guy," Leo said. Piper and Jason looked at him funny, but he ignored them.

"Come to this location. The hand unit will tell you what to do," the guard said. Leo nodded and took the card he was being offered.

The guard walked off, and Jason and Piper wheeled on Leo.

"What was that, Valdez?!" Piper demanded. Leo just shrugged.

"You guys can come too, if you're so worried," he said.

* * *

"You know, I really just meant Jason and Piper," Leo said, annoyance in his voice. Percy and Annabeth had decided to tag along as well.

"Just making sure there are no more fiery explosions," Percy said, patting his pocket.

"So you're gonna bust out Riptide and slice off some heads if I die?" Leo asked. Percy opened and closed his mouth like a hungry fish, which he is. Just don't tell him Leo thought that, and we're good.

"I'll take that as a yes," Leo said, stepping into the elevator.

Once everyone was inside, the doors closed and they started descending. There were posters on the walls, but Leo didn't pay much attention to them.

Then a voice came out of nowhere, causing the demigods to jump.

"_Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career. Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities._"

A yellow screen with the name "Mike" popped up right in front of Leo's face, but he didn't even blink. Piper, who was beside him, jumped when it appeared.

"_Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful,_" said the Hand Unit. Leo shrugged and tried to type in "Bad Boy Supreme," but the elevator was shaking too hard and he didn't press all the right letters.

"_It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome: Eggs Benedict."_

Leo laughed hard at the name, as did Percy. Jason, Piper, and Annabeth seemed to be getting bad vibes from this one elevator ride.

They rode the rest of the way down, Leo and Percy cracking the occasional joke. Finally they reached the bottom, where a tiny vent sat in front of them.

_"You can now open the elevator using that bright, red and obvious button. Let's get to work!"_

Leo pressed it, and the vent opened up for them.

"See guys? This isn't so bad!" Leo said, crawling through the vent. It reminded him of working on Festus's body again, right before he-

_No, no, no. No thoughts about your explosion. Bad Valdez_, he chided himself. Despite his easygoing nature about it, Leo was a little unnerved about his death. He expected Hades to show up any minute and drag him back to the Underworld. He needed something to take his mind off Hades and his death.

Thankfully, Hand Unit came back online.

"_Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter. Due to the massive success and even more-so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set – no pun intended – for another contender in children's entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning."_

"Wait, did he just say Freddy Fazbear's?" Percy asked. Leo nodded ahead of him.

"Yeah, why?"

"My mom said she went there once," Percy said. "She mentioned something strange about the animatronics there, that they smelled like decaying bodies or something, and they were moldy and glitchy."

Leo's stomach did a backflip. Bodies?

"She also mentioned something about 1983, but I can't remember what it was," Percy said.

Leo emerged into a small room with buttons on the left and right sides, plus two windows. The others followed him out.

"Whoa, What is this?" Annabeth asked. Piper was inspecting the buttons, and Jason poked the nose of one of the clown faces in there. It squeaked.

"_You are now in the Primary Control Module. It's actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms. Now, let's get started with your daily tasks. View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left."_

Piper pressed it, and a light came on in the room to their left. It looked like a stage, and there was something on it-an animatronic dressed as a ballerina.

"_Uh-oh, it looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing. Let's give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put a spring back in her step."_

"Did he say 'shock'?" Jason asked. Leo nodded and pressed the red button. An electrical shock went through the room, startling them all.

"_Let's check the light again,_" suggested the Hand Unit. Piper pressed the blue button again, but this time the figure on stage was twirling.

"Guys, the robot is moving!" Percy squeaked.

"So she is…" Leo muttered.

"_Excellent. Ballora is feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right. This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Try the light, let's see what Funtime Foxy is up to."_

Piper pressed the button on the right side of the entrance. There was another stage, with another animatronic. Except this one resembled a fox or a wolf.

"_Looks like Funtime Foxy is taking the day off. Let's motivate Funtime Foxy with a controlled shock."_

"I don't like the idea of a 'controlled shock', and I don't think the animatronics would, either," Jason said nervously. Leo pushed the red button and watched as an electric blue current flowed through the room.

When the handunit didn't say anything, Piper pushed the blue button again, but Funtime Foxy was still not moving.

"_Let's try another controlled shock."_

Leo ignored Jason's muttering as he shocked Foxy yet again. Piper checked the light, and sure enough, Foxy was moving.

"_Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order! Great job! In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Gallery Control Module."_

"I-I wanna stay here," Jason said. Leo gave him a quizzical look. "Sorry, it's just… I'm getting bad vibes from that room."

Leo nodded and headed in alone. He didn't want to leave Jason all by himself, especially if he was this freaked out.

Now that Leo thought about it, it was unlike Jason to freak like this. Unnatural, even.

He crawled through the small vent shaft, finally reaching the other side. He stood up in a tiny room, barely bigger than a janitor's closet. There was a giant glass window in front of him, and a blue and red button to either side. A control panel of some sort rested against the glass.

"_On the other side of the glass is Circus Baby's Auditorium. Let's check the light, and see what Baby is up to."_

Leo pressed the blue button on his right, but no lights came on inside the room, which made his heart skip a beat.

"_Looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later."_

_Why not now? _Leo thought.

"_Let's encourage Baby to cheer up with a controlled shock."_

Leo pressed the red button, which sent an electrical current more powerful than the others into the room. There was no sound from inside, and the lights still didn't work.

"_Let's try another controlled shock."_

Leo pressed the button again, but there still was no sound. Leo's heart started pounding.

"**_Let's try another controlled shock."_**

Ok, why did Handunit's voice get distorted?

Leo pressed it again, heart hammering against his ribs as though Hephaestus himself were pounding a shield in his chest. There still was no sound.

"_Great job Circus Baby, we knew we could count on you! That concludes your duties for your first night on the job. We don't want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we'll see you again tomorrow."_

Now Leo knew what Jason was talking about. Something didn't feel right about this janitor's closet… and the fact that there was absolutely no sound coming from the room… that freaked him out.

Leo turned around, grabbed his friends, and they headed back to camp. One thought came back to him, though, of earlier…

Why did they need a technician? And if the handunit knew exactly what Leo needed to do, and these messages were prerecorded for technicians…

What happened to the others?


	2. Hearing Things

(6-10-20... Yes, I erased this whole entire author's note. It was irrelevant, alright? For any new readers who end up finding this fic, this chapter was originally broken up into three separate chapters that were each WAY too short. So I combined them into a longer chapter. You're welcome.)

* * *

"_Welcome back for another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes. We're committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of that commitment is ensuring that you don't get tired of the voice that you're hearing right now."_

Leo and Percy were laughing so hard that they almost missed what Hand Unit said next. They also almost forgot about the previous night. The keypad returned, and Leo prepared himself to enter the name.

"_Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice. For male, press 1. For female, press 2. For text-only, press 3. For other options, press 4."_

Leo tried pressing 1; He kind of liked this voice. But his hand slipped, because the stupid elevator was still bumping up and down and all around.

_"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. thank you for choosing: ANGSTY TEEN."_

They started laughing again, trying to clear the atmosphere. They stopped when the elevator hit the bottom, and Leo pushed the button.

"_The elevator stopped. You know the routine. You can get out now or... whatever. stay here if you want," said the new voice._

Leo snickered and crawled through the vent space. Jason wasn't with them tonight; neither were Piper and Annabeth. They were busy at Camp Jupiter, building those new shrines and enlarging the gods' egos and stuff.

So he and Percy were crawling through the vent, slowly and silently. Leo wondered why the vents were so small. And why did they have to crawl through vents?

"_So, funny story... a dead body was found in this vent once. Okay, so, not that funny, but... it's a story."_

Leo turned and looked at Percy. He shook his head, no idea what their teenage friend was talking about. Leo kept his eyes ahead once again, thinking.

A dead body was found in this very vent. They needed new mechanics. Moldy, glitchy old animatronics that smelled like decaying bodies. Leo had better be paid MORE than just $100, for risking his life.

They emerged back into the main control room. Leo made his way immediately over to Ballora's window.

"_Ok, let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on Ballora and make sure she's on her stage, but... whatever."_

Leo thought this new voice was a little slow on the uptake, but he pressed the blue button and saw Ballora's shadow illuminated onstage. Doing nothing.

"Glad Jason isn't here," Leo said.

"Yeah, he would freak," Percy agreed.

"_Huh, I guess Ballora has better things to do. Let's zap her! That should be fun."_

"Yeah… fun…" Leo mumbled incoherently, pressing the red button now.

The familiar shock went through the room, but this time, a weird, muffled and distorted sound came from it.

"_Let's check on Funtime Foxy. Make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow.."_

Percy pushed the blue button, but the lights in the showroom didn't work this time.

**_"GREAT. GREAT. GREAT."_**

Leo and Percy shared an uneasy glance, both thanking Zeus and Hades and every other god in the history books that Jason was not here tonight.

"_There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored. Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby's Auditorium."_

Hand Unit's voice was back to normal now, and he was no longer an "angsty teenager." Leo felt happy about that, but was still shaken up about Teen's voice change. That was just plain freaky.

Leo led Percy to Circus Baby's Auditorium.

"_Circus Baby had a busy day today! Let's check the light, and make sure she's in proper working order."_

This time, the light worked perfectly. But there was no Baby.

"_Oh, Circus Baby, we aren't here to play hide and seek! Let's encourage Baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock."_

"What does she look like?" Percy asked Leo as he pushed the red button.

"I dunno… the lights weren't working yesterday," Leo said. He pushed the button, but nothing happened.

"Oh, gods… please," Leo mumbled.

"_Let's try another controlled shock."_

"What's the matter Leo?" Percy asked worriedly.

"Yesterday, she didn't come out. Hand Unit said to shock her three times, but the third time… it was distorted. Like the angsty teen," Leo realized.

He pressed he shock button again, hoping it would work.

"_There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby. Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen. Commencing system restart."_

All the lights and sounds went off, leaving Leo and Percy to wait in silence.

**"Motion trigger, entryway vent."**

Leo's heart stopped. Motion trigger? But he and Percy were both in here, waiting for Hand Unit!

**"Funtime auditorium, maintenance vent, open. Ballora gallery, maintenance vent, opened."**

"Maybe it's because of the restart?" Percy whispered. Leo nodded his head silently.

"Maybe," he breathed.

They heard something like shuffling-or crawling- close to them, getting closer. Leo didn't know where it was coming from, exactly, but he didn't move, trying to see everything around him.

"I don't recognize you," said a female voice. "You are new. I remember this… scenario… however. It's a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I'm curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this, willingly. Maybe curiosity? Maybe ignorance. There is a space under the desk; someone before you crafted it into a hiding place, and it worked for him. I recommend that you hurry, though. You will be safe there. Just try not to make eye contact. It will be over soon. They will lose interest."

Percy and Leo did as they were told, with Leo providing a small flame from his pinkie so they could see. It looked like they could close this compartment using a sheet of metal acting as a door. Though why they would need it, he had no idea.

Then he noticed that the crawling noise had gotten closer. Fearing the worst, he and Percy both kept perfectly silent, Percy's hand in his pocket, ready to draw Riptide.

Leo slowly closed the compartment and dimmed the flame on his pinkie. Whatever was crawling was in the room now.

A creepy, child-like voice called out to them. Percy slapped his hand over Leo's mouth to keep him from screaming, and Leo grabbed Percy's arm to keep him from pulling his sword.

"Hello, in there," called the childlike voice.

There were holes in the metal sheet, so Leo carefully peered through them, hoping to catch sight of the child. He had looked through all but one when he saw another eye peering back at him. The sight made him jump. It ducked away, and Leo peeked through the other holes again.

"Someone is inside," it whispered.

"Is it the same person?" asked another one.

Leo saw a tiny body run quickly past one of the holes. After a couple of seconds, he heard something like metal banging on metal. He had heard a lot of that back at Camp.

He peered through another hole, and the eye was back.

He turned to Percy, to see how he was faring, and he was doing pretty good. Better than Leo was doing, anyway.

The thing started opening slowly. Leo grabbed at it, trying to gently move it back into place. Whatever these things were, they were trying to get them.

After a few seconds of struggle, Leo managed to close the door again, but if he let go, or slackened his grip, the door started sliding open again.

"We always find a way inside," whispered the second voice. Leo heard a sound like someone hitting a home run, which made him jump.

The door started peeling back again, and this time, Leo needed Percy's help to hold it shut.

"She's watching us," whispered that first creepy voice. "We have to leave now."

Leo almost breathed a sigh of relief, until the second voice said, with pure joy: "We'll see you again soon!"

Leo jumped again as the much louder, female voice spoke.

"When your guide comes back online, he is going to tell you that he was unsuccessful... that you must restart the system manually. He will then tell you to crawl through Ballora Gallery as fast as you can to reach the breaker room. If you follow his instructions, you will die. Ballora will not return to her stage anymore. She will catch you. The power will be restored shortly. When you crawl through Ballora Gallery, go slowly. She cannot see you, and can only listen for your movement. When you hear her music become louder, she is growing near. Listening for you. Wait and be still."

"How does she know that?" Percy breathed in Leo's ear. Leo shrugged against his stomach. They both jumped again when Hand Unit came back.

"_Thank you for your patience. It seems like the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please return to the primary control module."_

Percy and Leo crawled out of the small space and through the vent. When they arrived back in the main room, Percy turned to Leo with a look of urgency on his face.

"How did she know? What the heck was that? What's going on?!" Percy asked, close to panic. Leo could only shrug again.

"We need to get out of here," Leo said. Percy shook his head, much to Leo's surprise.

"We can't. If we just leave this place, they'll find someone to replace us, and I don't want to place this kind of burden on some 'poor, unsuspecting mortal,'" Percy said. Leo chuckled lightly at Percy's sense of humor.

"So we have to play this all the way through and stop whatever is going on," Leo said. Percy nodded.

"Jason will be able to come with us-night after tomorrow?" Percy asked. Leo nodded.

"For now, let's just get what information we can get," he said.

As if on cue, Hand Unit restarts his usual régime.

"_You will now be required to crawl through the Ballora gallery using the vent to your left to reach the breaker room. It is recommended that you stay low to the ground, and reach the other side as fast as possible, as to not disturb Ballora. I will deactivate myself momentarily, as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating..."_

"Didn't that freaky female voice say not to listen to him?" Percy asked.

"Yep," Leo said. The two were silent for a moment.

"I'll go through Ballora Gallery," Percy offered.

"You sure?" Leo asked him.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," Percy said with a smile. He turned and stared crawling through the vent, hoping against hope that he would make it through the night.

* * *

Before he crawled through the vent, Leo had fished a couple of wires and screws out of his tool belt, creating two earpieces so they could communicate carefully. He had even attached a small camera to it so that he could see what was going on once he hooked it up to some sort of screen. Percy had then taken a deep breath and started his journey.

He was now crawling through the vent, thinking to himself.

Of course, he decided to volunteer for this. He had already let Leo down twice, how many more times could he fail his friend?

First, he couldn't stop that explosion… he shuddered. Why did Leo have to do that? Why couldn't it have been him instead?

Because he would have stood absolutely NO chance against that explosion, and he wouldn't have been brave enough to do that. He respected Leo in those categories, even if being fire-proof was one of his powers.

Then, much more recently, those tiny things were attacking them, and what had Percy done? Nothing. He had been too scared and frozen to help Leo. The only reason he was still alive was because of him.

So, yeah, he decided to do this. At least Leo didn't have to do EVERYTHING by himself.

Then again, Leo WAS the one who accepted the job, and not the rest of the seven…

Whatever. He still came down with him, so Percy was bound to help.

He entered the Ballora Gallery, and crawled his way through. He had to stop a couple times when Ballora's music became too loud. When he could see the light from his destination, he stopped to let Ballora pass, and he froze with fear. She was huge, maybe about seven feet tall. All he could see was her silhouette, but it still frightened him.

She passed, and he took a couple of cautionary steps forward.

_"It seems you are taking a long time. Please proceed as quickly and as quietly as possible."_

Percy felt like cursing out that hand unit- he nearly did.

**"Remember, don't listen to him. Stay quiet, stay slow, and do NOT answer me back until you're in the clear,"** Leo whispered into the earpiece.

Percy crawled along some more, finally, FINALLY reaching the breaker room.

"_You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel that you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily, until it is safe to reconnect."_

"Help me out with this, Leo," Percy mumbled into the earpiece.

**"I'll try, but I can barely see anything,"** he admitted.

Back in the breaker control room, Percy was studying the things he would have to reboot. He saw a blinking light.

It was orange.

He freaked out and looked around the room, paling when he saw another animatronic standing almost directly in front of him.

"L-Leo?" He stuttered.

"I see it. He should go away if you press the audio button," Leo informed him. Percy, not moving his eyes, pressed it, and a new voice rang out.

"Nope! No one is here!" rang a loud, high pitched voice. Percy could see the new, bear-like silhouette back away, and the light blinked green.

**"Alright, now, reboot the Funtime Auditorium,"** Leo commanded. Percy turned to the screen, pressing and holding the button that would restart the auditorium.

When that was finished, he turned back to the front, only to see a giant pink and white bear two steps in front of him. Percy, in a panic, pulled out his pen and pressed the audio button again.

"Calm down and go back to sleep!" cried the high-pitched voice. The bear walked away again, and Percy just stared after him.

**"Percy, you with me?"** Leo asked. Percy, in a whisper, let Leo know that it would probably be safer if Percy didn't talk, to which Leo agreed.

**"Alright, it doesn't matter which systems you reboot first, just hurry up with them, keep an eye on the bear, and finish them all!"** Leo told him. Percy nodded, wanting away from the bear as soon as possible.

He heard a creepy laugh and punched the audio button, silently cursing himself, since his hand hurt now.

The laugh came a couple more times, as did the bear, but Percy finally got it done.

"_Great job! This completes your tasks for the night. Please proceed back through the Ballora Gallery with care, and we'll see you back here tomorrow."_

Percy could cry. He had made it, but now he had to go back through that dark?

**"It's alright, dude,**" Leo said, voice remaining infuriatingly calm. "Just get through, avoid Ballora, and we can go home!"

Percy liked that thought. Taking a deep breath, he exited the breaker control room and headed back through Ballora Gallery.

As he crept silently along, he listened for her music.

There wasn't any. Breathing heavily, he tried to assure himself that nothing bad could go wrong, they were just robots, everything was alright...

He pulled off Riptide's cap, bringing the gleaming bronze blade to full size. Maybe it could serve to help him see better.

Or, you know, bust some evil-robot head while he was at it. That would work, too.

He kept going, probably halfway through the room by now, but he still didn't hear any music. Maybe she was turned off.

Or maybe...

Nah, she couldn't be waiting and hiding for an ambush. She was just a robot.

Not even an automaton.

He swallowed hard and pressed on, his nerves growing by the second.

Finally, he heard something, but it wasn't music. She sounded much older than the other voices he's heard so far, especially compared to those kids earlier.

"Is someone there?" she asked. Percy paused for a moment, and she continued talking.

"I can hear someone creeping through my room," she said. Percy tiptoed forward, thinking desperately: _no you can't you just have really good sensors you can't actually see or hear me I'm invisible please don't eat me I'm not that tasty and I'm not ready to die that's what quests are for please have mercy._

"Perhaps not," she decided, giving Percy a momentary sense of ease. His nerves were still shot, though, and he kept along the lines of tip-toe.

Finally, he reached the other side and met up with Leo, and they both raced for the elevator, breathing hard as they pushed the button. Even Leo was freaking out, despite not actually being the one who had gone through the Gallery.

"You alright man?" he asked. Percy shrugged.

"Define 'alright,'" he said. Then, he smiled. "I'm alive."

"That's always a bonus," Leo agreed, smiling back at him. The two fist-bumped, deciding right then and there NOT to bring Jason back down here.

He would most likely pee his little big-boy pants. The thought made Leo smile wider, and they rode the rest of the elevator up in silence.


	3. The Technician pt 1-Baby's Story

Hey guys, it's me!

Wow... I should not have done that. Sorry it's been a while since the last update, but at least it's here.

Here's the next chapter.

* * *

"Seriously, Jason, it really isn't-"

"Shut it, Valdez. I decided to come tonight."

_Ugh! Jason... why did you have to come_? Leo thought to himself. He didn't want Jason to freak out again.

Well, maybe he just felt embarrassed about the way he freaked a couple nights ago. Percy just shook his head, arms crossed and forced smile on his face. He had been reluctant to come back down, but he didn't want Leo to be alone, especially if Jason freaked out again. It wouldn't help him much.

Then again, he himself hadn't been much help last night. Apart from the trip into Ballora Gallery, he hadn't done much.

They neared the building with its creepy robots and shaky elevator. Leo thought he heard something.

"What's wrong Leo?" Percy asked him. Jason's eyebrows narrowed with worry.

"Nothing," Leo said. He strained his ears for any other sounds. Closing his eyes, he thought he heard a little girl speaking.

"Daddy, just once let me go play with her," she said. The voice was definitely a child's, and definitely a 'she.' The voice echoed as if she were standing in a very big cave.

"She's so pretty and shiny," she continued in her cute little British accent. "Didn't you make her just for me?"

Leo struggled to keep the voice in his head. She was already quiet enough, being a vision-thing and all that.

But she was gone, and Leo didn't know if he would get any more than that.

He opened his eyes again, only to find that they were in front of the building. They stepped into the elevator and began the long descent down. He didn't have anymore time to think about the little girl because handunit came online.

_"Welcome back to another pivotal night of your thriving new career, where you get to really ask yourself, 'What am I doing with my life? What would my friends say? And, most importantly, will I ever see my family again?'"_

They laughed half-heartedly.

_"We understand the stresses of a new job, and we are here for you. To help you reach a more stable and relaxing frame of mind, we offer several musical selections to help make this elevator ride as relaxing and therapeutic as possible. We offer contemporary jazz-"_

Leo shivered.

"Jazz..." he mumbled.

_"-Classical, rainforest ambience, as well as a wide selection of other choices."_

The keypad with the name "Mike" taped to the top popped up in front of them.

_"Using the keypad below, please type the first few letters of the musical selection you would prefer."_

"So... whatcha guys want?" Leo asked. They thought about it for a moment. Finally, Percy shrugged and asked what rainforest ambience was, to which all of them shrugged.

Leo typed it in so they could figure it out, but his fingers missed the right letters. Again.

_"It seems you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you."_

"Dam autocorrect... it never gets anything right," Percy said, making Leo and Jason laugh.

_"Thank you for selecting: casual bongos."_

With that, the namepad disappeared, but the demigods didn't mind too much. These casual bongos didn't sound too bad.

_"Now that your elevator experience has been customized to your needs, and you're thoroughly relaxed, its worth mentioning that due to your lackluster performance yesterday, your pay has been decreased by a substantial amount."_

The demigods all started complaining about the pay (and maybe about the fact that the pay should be raised, seeing as Percy could have died) but they remembered real quick that they were yelling at a robot.

_"Please enjoy the rest of your descent."_

But as much as they liked these casual bongos, they were still angry about the pay thing. Whatever. It wasn't like they particularly needed the money. But it would be nice to get it with all the problems they were facing.

The elevator stopped and they crawled through the vent. As they went, the bongos got quieter and quieter, until they couldn't hear it anymore, which was too bad, since Leo was starting to get really into it.

_"Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today's shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or may not be skilled enough to perform."_

"This is Leo freaking Valdez," Jason said. "He fixed a dragon! I think he can handle it."

This made Leo blush, which, thankfully, went unnoticed by his friends, seeing as he was in front of them and they couldn't see his face.

_"It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy's power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be an inefficient path forward, as we would need to allow 6-8 weeks for recovery and physical therapy."_

"Wait... what happened to those other technicians?" Percy asked nervously as they appeared out the other end of the vent shaft.

_"You will need to reach the parts and service room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let's check on Ballora first and see if she is on her stage."_

Leo turned on the light and stepped back in horror. Ballora was technically on her stage, but she was in pieces.

"Oh god... IS THAT HER LEG?" Jason freaked, pointing to something hanging roughly 10 ft. From the stage.

_"Great. It looks like everything is as it should be in Ballora Gallery. Let's check on Funtime Foxy. It's important to make sure she's on her stage before entering."_

"Wait... we have to go through there? Is that safe?" Jason asked, glancing at Leo. This time, Jason wasn't freaking out about the robot. He was worried about Leo.

"No, I'll go through," he said. Percy and Jason both blanched.

"WHAT?!"

"I'll go through alone," Leo repeated in a calm voice. "This is technically my job, and, besides, I know more about mechanics and technicalities than you two."

He wondered if they caught the 'technicalities' joke, but they seemed to be more concerned about his well-being. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Guys, it'll be fine. I'll be in and out, all good!" he assured them. Percy held up a hand like they were in school.

"Remember yesterday?" he asked.

"Yes, I remember yesterday, but don't worry. I don't think it'll be the same this time."

"What makes you say that?"

"A feeling," Leo answered. "Now, let's finish up in here."

He pressed the blue button, but there was no sign of Funtime Foxy on the stage.

_"Great. It looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium. There is no need to check on Baby tonight. Please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Proceed directly into Funtime Auditorium."_

"What? Why can't we check on Baby?" Jason asked.

"Dunno... you think he knows about her help yesterday?" Leo asked Percy.

When they had been on their way to Camp Half-Blood yesterday, they talked about the mysterious voice that had kept them alive. The two decided, after a lot of confusion and debate, that the voice could only have belonged to Circus Baby.

"Maybe. It would explain why he doesn't want us in there," Percy said.

"Here are the headsets," Leo said, handing one to Percy and quickly constructing one for Jason. He put his own on. "Let's keep in contact."

"Wait..." Percy said. He looked at the Circus Baby vent.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"Maybe we should check on Baby..." he said. "You know, just in case we end up nearly dying."

So they crawled through the vent leading to Baby.

**"Motion trigger, Circus Gallery vent."**

They appeared back in front of the large window. It was eerily dark... almost darker than the last two times Leo had been in here.

There was a long beep. When Leo listened closely, he could also hear groaning.

"What is that?" Jason whispered. Leo looked over and saw a gold coin in his hands.

"I don't know," Leo whispered back. He looked at Percy and noticed a pen in his hands.

Without pressing anything, Leo crawled into the small space under the desk that had protected him and Percy from the small children. Jason and Percy followed him. There were sounds like someone coming, and Leo closed the door again, his left hand on fire.

He couldn't close it all the way this time, and he heard something fall. His heart pounded and he tried to close the door again, this time with both hands. His hair caught fire, allowing them visibility.

Leo held the door closed, and the groaning sound came closer. Or so it seemed. Leo really couldn't tell right now. He strained his ears, but the beep and groaning never ceased, making his heart pound and causing all other sounds to vanish.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his head. He felt Percy and Jason behind him, ready in case something approached.

"Did you know that I was onstage once?"

Circus Baby's sudden voice appearance made them all jump, but they managed to relax slightly when she came online.

"It wasn't for very long," she admitted. "Only one day."

Leo looked back at his companions and mouthed "one day?" The two shrugged.

He let his mind whirl around that. He thought there was a performance every day... Ballora and Funtime Foxy sure were part of the show. Wasn't Baby? If she wasn't, then what was she doing here? And why did they have to check on her?

Leo thought back to last night and a thought struck him. But how would he tell Percy and Jason?

_Circus Baby had a busy day today..._

How could she, if she had only been on stage once? Unless yesterday was her first time.

Yeah, maybe that was it... maybe she was just referencing yesterday.

Of course, she shouldn't be referencing it, since she shouldn't remember it, since she was a robot...

"What a wonderful day, though. I was in a small room with balloons and a few tables. No one sat at the tables, though. But children would run in and out. Some were afraid of me. Others enjoyed my songs. Music was... always coming from somewhere else. Down the hall... I would always count the children. I'm not sure why. I was always acutely aware of how many there were in the room with me. Two, then three, then two, then three, then four, then two. Then none. They usually played together in groups of two or three. I was covered in glitter. I smelled like birthday cake. There were two, then three, then five, then four. I can do something special. Did you know that? I can make ice cream."

Percy's eyes lit up for a second, his interest peaked. He mouthed 'ice cream' before remembering that they were holed up in a small space under the desk of a room in a terrifying building.

"Although, I only did it once. There were four, then three, then two, then one. Something happened when there was one."

Leo wondered vaguely if the numbers she was sprouting off were important in any way. When he heard her say that something happened, he strained his ears for her to finish.

"A little girl."

Leo's hair went out, which probably made Percy and Jason worried, but he was thinking about something else. _A little girl? Maybe..._

_No. Baby couldn't be talking about that little girl. The same British one he had heard earlier. It was impossible._

_Then again..._

Wow. He was doing that a lot lately. _No more 'then agains.'_

_But..._

Ok, he really had to stop.

"Standing by herself. I was no longer... myself."

"What does that mean?" Jason asked against Leo, finally composed and back to his normal I-can-stay-calm-in-life-and-death-situations self.

Leo shrugged.

"And I stopped singing."

Leo started sweating.

"My stomach opened... and there was ice cream."

The three boys all released breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding. For a second there, they thought the little girl had died. Apparently, the ice cream comes out of Baby's stomach. Haha, good one, Circus Baby.

"I couldn't move... at least, not until she stepped closer."

They tensed up again. That wasn't the end of the story?

"There was screaming for a moment."

Percy started shaking Leo in a moment of panic, as if he was holding back his own screams.

"But only for a moment. Then other children rushed in again, but they couldn't hear her over the sounds of their own excitement. I still hear her sometimes."

Was this robot saying she was traumatized by the event? Maybe, just maybe, there was more to this whole franchise than Leo ever thought. He would need to dig through some things before deciding.

"Why did that happen?"

_I don't know,_ Leo thought. There was silence for a long time. The sounds of metal falling in the distance became audible, and Leo gripped the door thing again, not having realized that he let go of it in the first place.

When nothing happened, the boys decided to hightail it out of there and reentered the main control room.

"Well, that was... something," Percy said. Leo simply nodded, too afraid to speak. His mind was reeling over the puzzle pieces that just refused to be put together.

"What do we do now?" Jason asked. Leo forgot that they actually had a job to do.

"Simple," he forced himself to say. "I become a technician."

* * *

I know Jason technically lost his coin sword, but I wanted him to have it back, or at least have a new one. I liked the idea.

Hope you enjoyed this. Also, was I the only one who didn't know about this story from Baby? Because I honestly had no idea this whole thing could happen.


	4. The Technician pt 2-Time for Funtimes

Hey there guys, I'm working on this again!

Yay!

**To Random: thank you! I honestly get put on edge when I'm writing (typing) with no idea how. I keep hoping that I can keep it up, but I may end up losing that bit of fear somewhere in the future. I haven't quite seen a whole gameplay on SL yet, so this is kind of new information for me, which means that I'm just incorporating my own feelings into what Leo's going through (if any of that made sense, which I don't think it did.)**

**To firestar365: thanks! I'm glad you feel that way! Since I'm technically rewriting something I posted a couple years ago (some helpful advice: don't look for it, it sucks) I'm glad that I've been able to do the idea some justice. **

Sorry it took so long to update this story. I'll admit, I got a little scared watching the video and I may or may not (see the former rather than the latter) have tried putting it off as long as I could because I didn't wanna watch the video.

But I decided to suck it up because I had to remind myself that people are reading this...

And I was bored.

Uh... here's a quick recap of where we left off, then it'll go straight into the story:

* * *

_There was silence for a long time. The sounds of metal falling in the distance became audible, and Leo gripped the door thing again, not having realized that he let go of it in the first place. _

_When nothing happened, the boys decided to hightail it out of there and reentered the main control room. _

_"Well, that was... something," Percy said. Leo simply nodded, too afraid to speak. His mind was reeling over the puzzle pieces that just refused to be put together. _

_"What do we do now?" Jason asked. Leo forgot that they actually had a job. _

_"Simple," he forced himself to say. "I become a technician." _

* * *

Leo entered the vent.

**"Funtime Auditorium. Maintenance vent: open."**

Leo took a deep breath and started crawling. He could hear Percy and Jason's heavy breathing through his earpiece. He jumped slightly when Handunit came on, though he should have been expecting it. Heck, by now, he could expect anything.

_"Unlike Ballora, Funtime Foxy is motion activated."_

"Great," Leo mumbled to himself. "Just what I needed."

_"For this reason, it is important to keep the room dark, as to not accidentally activate her."_

"Wait… her? But I thought Foxy was a dude!" Percy whispered through Leo's headset. Leo shrugged as if Percy could see him.

"Don't know. I guess the strange voices in our ears don't know, either."

"Haha," Percy said sarcastically. Leo felt the exit with his hands and kicked the vent open. What? If she was unresponsive to sound, then he could be as loud as he wanted, right?

Yeah, maybe that's not what Handunit meant…

Leo landed on the floor in a Spider-Man pose. The theme song played in his head, but he shook it to clear his thoughts. Thinking about literally anything right now was NOT going to help him.

_"You have been provided with a flash beacon. Use it if you need to get your bearings, and to make sure you don't bump into anything. However, use it as sparingly as possible. Proceed forward to reach the parts and service room."_

Leo literally tripped over the beacon. He groaned a sarcastic "thanks" and, rubbing his leg, he picked up the item and pressed the button. It wasn't on for very long, but it was just enough for Leo to see where he had to go.

Keeping his eyes trained forward, he took a couple steps. Not feeling any danger yet, he picked up the pace.

But then, he heard the sound of shuffling. In a panic, his thumb slipped and pressed the button. Standing two feet away from him was a giant pink and white fox. It was looking right at him.

Thankfully, his precious source of light only lasted less than a second, but Leo didn't dare move. He covered his mouth to avoid screaming.

After a moment, he uncovered his mouth and pressed the button again.

Funtime Foxy was gone.

Breathing silently, he crept along some more, listening for shuffling. Whenever he heard some (or just got paranoid) he would press the button. He got halfway through the room before seeing Funtime Foxy again, and even then, she (or he, whatever) was really far away.

After what felt like 50 years, Leo finally made it to the vent on the other side. He quickly pushed himself into the vent and crawled through, careful to not press the button on his flash beacon. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.

Leo had to quickly cover his mouth before he let out a scream. If he had been any slower, his scream would have been heard all the way in Ballora Gallery. The thought made Leo shiver. He didn't want to run into Ballora.

**"Motion Trigger: Parts and Service."**

He was face-to-face with a pink and white bear. It had a black top hat, blue eyes, and a blue bunny attached to his hand. Leo assumed that this was Funtime Freddy.

"Ok, big guy, let's see what you need," Leo said to him, uncovering his mouth, but the animatronic bear didn't respond.

"L-Leo... that's..." Leo heard Percy in his ear. For a second, he was worried that the earpiece wasn't working.

"Percy? What's wrong?" Leo asked. "Jason, do you respond?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Jason said. Leo sighed in relief once again.

"Is Percy alright?" he asked.

"He seems pretty freaked," Jason said. Some of his own panic was seeping into his voice, but Leo appreciated the fact that he was keeping it steady.

"Percy, what-"

And then Leo saw it. And he paled.

"It's him... isn't it?" Leo asked. He could hear Jason's breath falter.

"Who's him? What's going on?"

"Percy will explain," Leo said. "I'm going to figure out what I need to do to our good friend Funtime Freddy here."

As if spurred on by Leo's comment, Handunit came online.

_"Great job reaching parts and service,"_ he said. Leo heard Percy snort into the microphone, but he didn't make any comment, calming Leo down and making him smirk. _"It seems that Funtime Freddy is out of power, which should make your job much easier. The release switch for the chest cavity is located on the underside of the endoskeleton jaw. To reach it, we will first need to open the faceplates."_

The smirk melted off Leo's face, replaced instead with a frown. Who the heck decided to connect the release switch to the endoskeleton? Why not just have it on the outside of the jaw to make it easier to access?

That's when Leo remembered that kids hung around with these things and pushed his thoughts to the side.

_"You will need to press the faceplate release triggers in a specific order, and it's important to be as precise, and as careful, as possible."_

"Schist," Leo swore. "We got a problem, guys."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. All demigods have ADHD, including Leo, which meant that he sometimes has trouble remembering details.

"We'll help you out as much as we can," Percy offered. Leo had to smile to himself, thankful that he wasn't in this alone.

_"Locate the small button on Freddy's face, just under his right cheek, and press it."_

Leo set his left hand on fire so he could see better and inched ever-so-slightly closer to Funtime Freddy, searching the underside of his cheek. He saw the button and, avoiding Freddy's jaw, he pressed it. There was a faint humming sound as Leo worked.

_"Great. Now, locate the button under his left cheek and press it."_

Leo found the second button much easier than he had found the first one.

_"Great. Now, carefully locate and press the button next to Freddy's right eye."_

Leo reached out, hesitated, and drew his hand back. He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, and reached up once again, trying to locate the button. It was so tiny that it took him a while, but eventually, he found it.

_"Great! Now carefully locate and press the button just above Freddy's nose."_

Leo was taken off guard by this one. He had expected the next button to be next to his left eye, because it seemed like Handunit was following a pretty cliché pattern, but no. This time, it was on... no, wait... it was above... or was it below the...

Agh! Stupid ADHD! Leo cursed at himself for letting his mind wander even a little bit.

"Uh, guys?"

"Don't worry bro, we got you," Percy said. He and Jason mumbled something to each other. "The button right above Freddy's nose." Leo smiled again and pressed the button.

It was silent for a second before the faceplates practically exploded open. Leo jumped back, screaming. Once the initial shock had worn off (about five minutes later) Leo took deep breaths to calm himself down. He tried patting out his hair, which had caught fire when he screamed, but decided to just let it keep going. It could work to his advantage, anyway.

"Everything alright Leo?" Jason asked. Leo took a couple more deep breaths before answering.

"Yeah... just a jumpscare," he said. "I'm still alive."

"Be careful, Leo..." Percy said. Leo waved him off, though Percy couldn't actually see it.

"I'll be fine!" he exclaimed.

_Maybe..._

_"Good job. The faceplates should now be open. Locate and press the small button on the underside of Freddy's endoskeleton jaw."_

Leo cautiously reached over and pressed the button, jumping when the chest cavity opened with a loud hiss. Leo laughed somewhat insanely and pointed an accusing finger at Funtime Freddy.

"Ha! Screw you, Bear! I didn't scream this time!" he bragged.

"Uh... Leo? Are you sure you're alright?" Jason asked. Leo giggled deliriously.

"I think I'm losing my mind," he said. Before Percy or Jason could say anything to this, Handunit broke up the conversation.

_"Excellent. The chest cavity should now be open. Remove the power module from the chest cavity."_

Leo pulled a little disk with a tiny glowing red light on it out of Freddy's chest.

_"Great work. You will be required to remove the secondary power module from the Bonnie hand puppet."_

Leo turned to Freddy's right hand, where Leo vaguely remembered seeing a blue bunny with rosy red cheeks earlier, but there was nothing there.

"Ah, great, where'd you go?" Leo asked, not even scared anymore.

_"Press the large black button beneath Bonnie's bowtie to release the power module."_

"I would if I could, Buddy," Leo said. "Bonnie, come on man, where are you?"

He walked around Funtime Freddy a couple of times trying to find the freaking rabbit. He looked at both hands, stared into Freddy's cold, dead eyes, and studied the spot that Leo assumed Bonnie usually hung out. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling tired. When he opened them again, he saw Bonnie chilling on Freddy's shoulder.

"Hey! There you are!" Leo exclaimed. Before Bonnie had a chance to move around again, Leo shot his hand up and pressed the tiny button, locating it immediately. A small disk similar to the one from Funtime Freddy's chest cavity popped off and fell into Leo's awaiting hand.

_"Great job. You've acquired both power modules. This completes your tasks for the night."_

"Yes!" Leo cheered, and he heard Percy and Jason cheering with him.

_"Please exit the building through Funtime Auditorium, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow."_

"Wait, so you're just gonna leave Funtime Freddy like that?" Percy asked. Leo snorted.

"Please, I am NOT gonna go through that again," he said. He turned around and walked back into Funtime Auditorium, some of his dread returning as he remembered that he would have to sneak past Funtime Foxy again.

Leo was sure to grab the flash beacon before leaving Parts and Service. He flashed it once without seeing anything. He progressed forward.

Leo thought he heard something running towards him, so he kept flashing the beacon, hoping to see Funtime Foxy in front of him, because he certainly didn't want that thing behind him.

"Guys?" Leo asked. There was static on the other end of his headset. "Guys? Hello?!"

Leo's heart stopped. The headsets must have somehow died... he gulped and started creeping forward slowly, always with the feeling that something was behind him.

The exit was within sight, but Leo didn't feel any less threatened. He dropped the flash beacon and made a mad dash for the door.

Just before he reached it, Funtime Foxy jumped in front of him, it's face splitting into four separate pieces. It grabbed Leo's shoulder and he screamed. The world turned black, but Leo still felt conscious.

"Daddy, she can make balloons!"

Leo gasped upon hearing the little British girl's voice once again.

"Have you seen her make balloons? Oh, daddy, let me go to her!"

_Stay away from her_, Leo found himself trying to shout. _You need to stay away from her!_


	5. The Fourth Night

Hello, guys!

I'm getting so close to finishing this story that I'm almost forcing myself to write everything out before uploading everything. I haven't quite finished it yet, but I hope you end up liking the ending.

**To lily: Thanks! I'm glad you do! And I want to include Michael, but I'm not sure where he turns up. I'm trying to find a way to work all the different endings to SL into this story, which is why I'm nervous about the ending of this fic itself... could you tell me which ending he shows up in? That would help me out!**

**To firestar365: Haha! I don't doubt that they would! But wouldn't Jason and Percy be swimming in guilt? I mean, knowing them, they would probably blame themselves if anything happened to Leo, so they would probably go down there to apologize or something, THEN kill him a second (third?) time. But that's just what I think. **

All of Leo's thoughts are in _italics. _

Anyway, here's the fourth night!

7-11-20: Yes, I decided to rewrite the ending of this chapter, and I'm going to change much of the beginning of next chapter. I didn't like how I did it, and the alternate ended up making much more sense. (It's also what actually happened in the game, which was something I didn't realize until I was first typing up the next chapter, sooooo…)

_**Line Break**_

Leo opened his eyes and looked around, feeling trapped. When he glanced downwards, he saw that he WAS trapped. He couldn't move his arms, and when he tried, someone shushed him.

"Be still... and quiet..."

_Baby._

"You've been sleeping for quite a while. I think they noticed that you never left the building last night. The cameras were searching for you."

Leo's heart started beating faster. What happened last night?

Oh, yeah. He had been caught by Funtime Foxy. He would have thought for sure that he would be dead.

His vision adjusted to the dark, and he could see out of two eye holes, as if he were wearing a mask.

"But they couldn't find you."

Leo gulped. He managed to shift his arm a little, feeling something very pointy dig into his arm. He froze, thankful that it didn't actually cut.

"I have you hidden too well. I kidnapped you."

_What?_ Leo thought. He ran into Funtime Foxy, not Circus Baby.

Leo saw a blinking red light in the right eyehole and turned his head to look at it. Maybe it was someone coming back to help him out of wherever he was.

His stomach dropped. He was wearing some kind of mask, was unable to move, the cameras didn't see him, and there were sharp, pointy things poking him all over his body. There was no way anybody would be able to find him!

"Don't be afraid," Baby quickly said.

_Too late!_ He inwardly screamed at her.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Leo felt tempted to breath a sigh of relief at this, but he could feel the mechanisms in the suit. If he got the inside even a little moist, the pointy things wouldn't just be grazing his skin...

"I am only going to keep you for a little while. Try not to wiggle, though. You're inside something that came from my old pizzaria. I don't think it was ever used... at least, not the way it was meant to be used."

Leo sniffed the air. It smelled vaguely of decaying bodies. Leo groaned slightly. _Great... that's fantastic... I'm in a murder suit..._

"Too dangerous..."

Leo already knew that. He had those special "mechanic senses" as Percy liked to call it.

"It's just big enough for one person to fit inside... but just barely..."

Leo rolled his eyes. _No, duh._

"You're in the scooping room," Baby informed him. Leo knit his eyes together. He got the feeling that they didn't scoop ice cream in here. "Do you know why they call it the 'Scooping Room'?"

_Don't think I wanna find out..._

"It's because, dummy-"

_Hold up... DUMMY?_

"-this is the room where they use the scooper. I thought that would be obvious."

_What gives you the right to call me dummy and talk down to me like I'm the stupidest animal on the planet? You didn't even give me a chance to answer your question!_

Leo was enraged, but dread was settling back into his stomach. The presence of the suit he was currently in was so strong, he couldn't find out what the rest of the room was supposed to do.

"Isn't that a fun name for something? The Scooper... it sounds like something you would use for ice cream, or custard, or sprinkles..."

_Ok, now I'm worried about your sanity..._ Leo thought.

"It sounds like something you would want at your birthday party to ensure that you get a heaping portion of Every. Good. Thing. I wonder, though, if you were a freshly opened pint of ice cream, how you would feel about something with that name?"

_Probably like setting something on fire,_ Leo thought. For a second, he debated opening his mouth to answer her directly, but decided against it, remembering the pointy things.

"Thankfully, I don't think a freshly opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all."

_It probably feels cold due to being in the freezer all the time._

"Uh-oh..."

_Uh-oh? What uh-oh? What's going on?!_

"It sounds like someone else is in the building..."

Leo inwardly celebrated. He opened his mouth to call out, but Baby interrupted him.

"Shh."

_No._

But Leo listened to her, anyway. He heard a squeaky door open, then a deep, male voice said, "Ok, bring her over."

Leo looked around in confusion.

"Bring her forward... more, more... ok, stop. Set her down. Watch the step."

_What's going on?_ Leo thought.

"What happened to it this time?" asked a different, slightly lighter, voice. Leo listened intently. "Just seems like these things can't go a day without breaking down."

"Who knows? It's always the same, man... some kind of hardware malfunction," said the first guy.

"Well... I-I have to be somewhere in fifteen," the second guy said. "This place always gives me the creeps... can we just get this over with? It's all automated. We don't have to be here for it. Just get it on the roller so we can go."

Leo heard something heavy land on what sounded like a conveyor belt. His breaths increased. What sounded like a saw started up, making him flinch. There was banging, like something metal being banged against exposed gears. It lasted for a while, making him even more nervous.

Leo gulped again. He kept turning his head to see what was going on, but the outside room was still too dark to see anything except the blinking red light.

Finally, he saw what was on the conveyor belt: It was Ballora, looking as creepy as ever. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open slightly as if she was about to start singing. She came to a stop right in front of the left eyehole, giving Leo a perfect view of her face.

"There's something very important that I've learned how to do over time," Baby said. Leo knitted his eyebrows together again. Weren't they supposed to be acting quiet? Did this mean that his best chance for escape had left the room already?

"Do you know what that is?"

_Are you going to let me answer this time?_ Leo inwardly asked, all sarcasm.

"How to pretend."

_Well, that was underwhelming._

"Do you ever play make-believe?"

_Why would I, when I already LIVE make-believe?_

"Pretend to be one way, when you are really the other?"

Leo didn't have any sarcastic thoughts for this. Baby had struck a nerve within him. Leo already didn't feel like he truly belonged with the other demigods, but he had always thrown a smile on his face and shrugged everything off. Nobody seemed to notice...

"It's very important... Ballora never learns... but I do..."

Leo gulped again, trying to wash down his insecurities along with the fear.

"They think there is something wrong on the inside... the only thing that matters is knowing... how... to... pretend..."

Leo shook his head ever-so-slightly. _That's not true... if it were true, I wouldn't still be here..._

There were four loud beeps, and suddenly, Ballora jerked backwards as if she were being hit, making Leo jump. Her face seemed to glow yellow, and she jerked backwards again. She was thrown back one final time, making her slump forward, unmoving.

There was silence for a minute before Baby spoke again, as if nothing had just happened.

"I'll open the faceplates for you," she said. "That way, they can find you on the cameras."

Leo gulped and realized that Ballora's head was turned slightly so he could see one of her eyes. She was staring right at him.

"Now, all you have to do is wait," Baby said. Leo focused on keeping his hair from catching fire by breathing deeply to keep himself calm. He was ready to burn his way out of this clown suit.

The faceplates opened much more silently than Freddy's had, leading Leo to think that Freddy was just being a jerk to him last night.

"I'd recommend that you keep the springlocks wound up. Your breathing and your heartbeat are causing them to come loose."

Leo eyed one of the pointy ends suspiciously, seeing it unwind. He assumed that this was what a springlock was. He grabbed hold of it gently and started winding it back up. He glanced to his left and saw another one coming loose, too. He grabbed it and started winding it up as well. There was a ticking sound as he wound them up.

"You don't want them to get too loose... trust me..."

Leo tuned her voice out, but took her advice to heart. He tried his best to ignore Ballora, who was still staring at him like a creepy stalker. He thought he heard shuffling come from the room and lit his hand on fire to see, but there was nothing there. He hurried with the left side, then turned back to the right side, seeing many more springlocks than he thought there were.

He saw some heads pop up around him, watching him, and threw a ball of fire into the room, sensing the metal that was surrounding them. There were all sorts of little white-headed, bald Barbie dolls with tutus surrounding him, all with creepy black smiles and little white lights for eyes. Leo yelped when he saw them, but continued winding up the springlocks anyway.

They eventually started climbing up the side of the suit, trying to get inside, but Leo knocked them off by shaking the faceplates. His heart was pounding as he desperately wished for somebody, ANYBODY, to see him on the camera and come after him.

Leo even tried to get out of the suit once, but discovered that it was much more difficult than he thought. The faceplates were the only things open, which meant that if he was going to crawl out himself, it would take way too long and the springlocks would uncoil completely, most likely killing him in the process. He decided that it would be best to hold out until someone else came to help him.

The little Barbie rejects started climbing inside the suit after a while. Leo was panicking, so the springlocks were loosening quicker because he was breathing rapidly, which meant that he had no time to spare to keep the freaky things out. He could feel them crawling around near his feet, trying to climb up his legs as he worked.

He had no idea how many springlocks were in the suit, but he didn't dare set himself on fire to keep the dolls away from him for fear of activating anything he couldn't see.

There was a bang. Leo turned in the direction the sudden sound had come from, forgetting about the springlocks for a moment.

"Hello?" he called out. A blinding light was shone directly into his face, making Leo wince. He brought up one hand to shield his eyes so that he could see who was holding the flashlight. When he saw who his rescuers were, he smiled.

"Guys!" he exclaimed. Percy moved the flashlight away from Leo's face, allowing him to see. He noticed Jason standing beside Percy, relieved smile on his face.


	6. The End pt 1- The Real Ending

Hey there!

You know how I said in the last chapter that I'm SO close to finishing this that I was trying to type out the rest of the story?

Well, I just finished it a couple minutes ago.

This was one of the chapters I typed up last night. Don't worry! This isn't the last chapter of the story! Again, I was trying to get as much out of the ending to SL as I could, which could potentially ruin the story, but I'm not gonna change it because that's 12 hours of work down the drain.

It gets rather confusing who's talking, so I'm hoping this will help:

**_This font is coming through the headset_**

_This one is Baby speaking through the intercom/ Handunit_

**This font is the female that says maintenance something**

And Baby has a normal font for when she speaks.

7-13-20: Hello! OwO. This is another updated version of the story, and if you remember from the last chapter, I mentioned I changed most of the beginning of the chapter?

Well, I literally rewrote the whole beginning. I thought this made more sense in context. If you're a new reader, then... none of this little message should make much sense to you.

* * *

Leo was silently watching Percy and Jason mess around with Handunit and the pop-up keypad. He wasn't very excited to come back here tonight… but Percy was right. If they wouldn't be the ones to hold out, someone else would be stuck in this.

Leo had been mostly fine after Percy and Jason found him last night, apart from the hysterical sobbing and screaming and string of Spanish curse words emanating from his mouth, but really, what would you expect? He thought he handled it rather well, actually.

He had calmed down when they got home, had gone silent when they walked towards the building, and hadn't said a word since. He didn't even tell Jason and Percy what had happened after his kidnapping last night.

"_Welcome back to your last day on the job! That is, the last day of your first week."_

Leo sighed. He wasn't planning on coming back next week, to be honest.

"_Some of the most valued qualities that we like to see in new employees are determination, fearlessness and a genuine disregard for instinctive self-preservation."_

Percy snorted at this.

"That's literally every demigod ever," he said. Jason laughed and agreed with him.

"_You've earned your one-week bonus which will be given to you in the form of a delightful gift basket, the cost of which will be taken out of your next paycheck."_

_"_Heads up, I think Mr. Krabbs is running the restaurant," Percy monotoned. Jason laughed harder, and Leo couldn't suppress a smirk, coming out of his post-traumatic state.

"_We have gift baskets containing fruits, nuts, flowers, and, of course, the ever-popular cash basket. Using the keypad below, please enter the first few letters of the gift basket you would like to receive."_

_"_Should we go for the golden greens?" Percy asked. Jason shrugged.

"I don't think it matters what we put in. Autocorrect will change it anyway," he said. Percy scoffed.

"True."

Percy grabbed the keypad and started randomly pressing letters while blowing a raspberry. Leo laughed softly to himself and Jason just face-palmed.

_"I see you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto correct it for you... thank you for selecting: exotic butters."_

Leo snorted. Percy and Jason turned to him, smiling and seemingly relieved that Leo was starting to act like a human being again.

"I love how Handunit says the most popular item is money then turns around and gives us butter," he said.

"Ah, so the silent Ted decides to speak, huh?" Percy asked sarcastically. Leo shoved him playfully, making all three boys laugh.

"They are EXOTIC butters," Jason corrected. Leo punched him, too, and the boys laughed even harder.

_"Please be aware that there are still two technicians on sight today. Try to avoid interfering with their work if possible. Also, feel free to ask them why they are still there, and encourage them to go home."_

The mention of technicians made Leo frown in thought. Something about his conversation with Baby last night, however one-sided it had been, made him feel uneasy about today… especially regarding the mention of two technicians.

"There's something I need to do when we arrive down there," he said. "You guys just... trust me..."

Percy and Jason looked a bit skeptical, but they nodded. The elevator came to a stop, and the demigods all crawled through the small vent.

**"Motion trigger: Entryway Vent."**

They crawled out of the vent and stood, nervous about tonight's chores. All of the vents leading to the different rooms were closed up.

_"Let's check on Ballora and make sure she's on her stage."_

Leo frowned.

"Guys, Ballora won't be on her stage," he said. Percy raised an eyebrow at him.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Because I saw her get..." Leo started. He tried to think of the right word, then his eyes widened as realization hit him. "Scooped..."

"Scooped?" Jason asked. "As in, like ice cream?"

With a shaky hand, Leo pushed the blue button. He jumped back with a scream when he saw the silhouette of a man hanging from the ceiling. Jason gasped and Percy yelped.

Ballora was nowhere to be seen.

_"Great. Now, let's check on Funtime Foxy."_

Leo pushed the button, and there was another guy hanging. Foxy wasn't on the stage, either.

"Leo, what's going on?" Percy asked. Leo shrugged.

"I don't know..."

Percy pulled out his pen and removed the cap. Jason removed a coin from his own pocket and flipped it, grabbing a sword out of the air.

_"Great. It looks like everything is as it should in Funtime Auditorium. Your task today will involve more maintenance work. Circus Baby had a rough day and is in need of repair."_

"Of course, she is," Leo said to himself.

_"You will be required to reach the parts and service room by once again sneaking through Funtime Auditorium. As always, please proceed with caution."_

The vent leading to Funtime Auditorium opened up. Leo took a deep breath.

"Come on guys," he said. "Let's go see Circus Baby."

He crawled into the vent, Jason and Percy right behind him.

**"Funtime Auditorium, maintenance vent: opened."**

Leo crawled through to the other side, dropping silently to the floor. Percy landed to his right, and Jason on his left.

Both boys had their weapons out, ready to slice some heads off. Leo took a deep breath and moved forward. They didn't need the flash beacon this time- the lights from the two combined swords was dim enough so they would (hopefully) not be spotted, but bright enough for them to see. There was no sign of Funtime Foxy the whole time.

They finally reached the parts and service room. Leo lit his hand on fire and saw a different animatronic sitting there this time. She had a white face with two intersecting lines going horizontally and vertically. She had rosy red cheeks and a big red nose, with red lips. Her eye sockets were empty, and she had vibrant red hair.

Leo took another deep breath.

"Hello, Baby," he said. She didn't move. Jason came up beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"We're right behind you, Leo," he said. Leo smiled gratefully at him and turned his attention back to Baby.

**"Motion trigger: Parts and Service."**

_"Great job reaching Parts and Service. Circus Baby has been deactivated for an unknown reason."_

"She probably deactivated herself," Percy said. Jason squeezed Leo's shoulder one more time in reassurance, then removed his hand.

_"It's your job to make sure she is structurally stable, and secure, to the conveyor. Our technicians will take a look from there-PSH."_

The trio jumped when static cut through Handunit's voice. It was silent for a long time before Baby's voice rang out, making Leo glare at her.

"Can you hear me?" she asked. Jason let out a breath and gripped his sword tighter.

"I'm pretending."

"Pretending to do what?" Percy asked. Leo glared at her harder.

"Last night," he said. Jason's eyes widened in realization, but Percy still looked a little confused.

"What does last night have to do with pretending?" he said. Jason shook his head.

"I think it's between her and Leo..." he said. Percy sighed and shook his head as well.

"I think I'm getting a headache," he said.

"Remember how I said I could pretend?" Baby asked. Leo rolled his eyes.

"We already established that last night happened, dummy," he said. Then he smirked to himself as if he had made a really funny joke.

"The cameras are watching... I must be careful not to move. Something bad happened yesterday..."

"You don't say?" Leo asked sarcastically. He missed his chance last night, and now, he was ready to insult the heck out of her.

"Something bad always happens," Baby said. The demigods all laughed at this line, despite it not intending to be funny.

"Oh, you got no idea," Percy told her.

"I don't want it to happen again," Baby said. This made everyone calm down. "There is something bad... inside of me... I'm broken..."

Leo frowned to himself. If there was something bad inside of her, who was to say that she wouldn't attack them?

"I can't be fixed..."

"Everything can be fixed," Leo muttered to himself out of habit. His face turned a little red when he realized that he said it, but thankfully, his friends didn't hear him.

"I'm going to be taken to the scooping room soon," Baby said. Leo gasped and covered his mouth, extinguishing the flame.

"Leo?" Jason asked worriedly. Both he and Percy grabbed Leo's shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked him. Leo removed his hands from his mouth.

"They're gonna kill her," he said. Jason and Percy shared a worried look.

"Earlier, you said that Ballora was scooped," Jason said. Leo nodded absentmindedly. "That's why she wasn't in her gallery..."

"But it's not going to fix what's wrong with me. What is bad is always left behind. Will you help me? I want you to save what is good so the rest can be destroyed, and never recovered... but you must be careful... Ballora is here... in the room, with us..."

"But I thought she was 'scooped' last night?" Jason asked Leo, who shrugged.

"Doesn't mean she's in one piece," he said. Percy shivered.

"Ballora will NOT return to her stage... Ballora will not return to her body..."

"Told ya," Leo joked weakly. He got weak chuckles from his friends.

"You must be careful... you must remain calm... and listen to my voice... there is a button on my cheek... you must find it and press it."

Leo relit his hand and moved closer to Baby's face, searching for the button. It was on her right cheek, and when he pressed it, the upper right hand corner of Baby's head popped open, revealing a keypad.

"There is a passcode that you must enter before you can retrieve me. Enter the code carefully."

"Ready guys?" Leo asked. Jason and Percy grunted in agreement.

"9... 1... 5... 5... 1... 2... 9... 5... 7... 5..."

Leo had to rush to press all the tiny buttons, but thankfully, he managed to do it without hitting the wrong numbers.

"Good. A hatch should have opened... take the card that you find inside..."

Leo took a tiny microchip from her left arm.

"Now, you must turn back. I will guide you through Funtime Auditorium so you can reach the scooping room. When you are there, I want you to destroy this body. Put the card into your hand-held device, and I can continue to speak to you."

"She's probably talking about the flash beacon we were supposed to grab," Jason said. Leo sighed and pulled out his headset, attaching the chip to the receiving end.

"Now, press the green button to your left. This will send me to the scooping room," she said. Leo held his hand closer to the left, where he saw the green square button she must have been talking about. Leo looked back up at her.

"Any last words?" he asked her. She remained silent. He turned to Percy and Jason, who were saluting in Circus Baby's direction, making Leo smirk.

"I'm sorry, soldier... but it must be this way," Leo said dramatically, pressing the button and standing up straight, saluting Baby as well. Percy started humming the United States national anthem, and Leo and Jason remained saluting Baby as she conveyor-belted away from them and towards her impending doom. Once she was out of sight, Percy went silent and started laughing, Leo and Jason joining in.

Once they had calmed down, they exited the Parts and Service room and reentered Funtime Auditorium. Leo heard Baby's voice come from his headset.

_**"You must follow my instructions in Funtime Auditorium... Ballora is going to follow you... she will try to catch you... I will help you avoid her. She will not follow you inside the scooping room. She is afraid..."**_

Leo took another deep breath and steeled his nerves.

"Guys, follow my lead," he called over his shoulder. Percy and Jason probably nodded, their swords drawn.

**_"Go forward..."_**

Leo ran forward as silently as he could. He couldn't hear his friends behind him, but he trusted that they were following.

**_"Stop."_**

Leo sparked a small flame on his finger for a second, cutting off the fire quickly to let the others know to stop. They waited for a second before Leo heard Baby's voice again.

**_"Go forward, and left..."_**

Leo followed her directions, flaming for a good three seconds to get his friends moving.

**_"Keep going... stop. Be silent..."_**

Leo flashed for another second to tell his friends to stop, then waited with bated breath.

**_"Go forward and left..."_**

Leo flashed again another three seconds and ran forward.

**_"Stop."_**

This time, Leo could hear something like dripping water and very faint music. His heart was pounding so loud, he was afraid that Ballora would be able to hear it.

**_"Go forward... you are almost there..."_**

Leo ran forward again, breathing harder and harder the further he got. He was trying to keep from catching on fire.

**_"Stop... she is right in front of you..."_**

Leo almost screamed at this news. Was Circus Baby TRYING to lead them to their deaths?! He thought she was HELPING them!

**_"Don't... move..."_**

_I'm going to die..._ Leo thought to himself. He jumped when Baby's voice came on over the intercom.

_"They are here to help, Ballora. They are not here to hurt us... Ballora, they are here to help us..."_

Leo could hear Ballora's music playing, though it sounded quiet... distorted...

Baby's voice appeared back in Leo's headset.

**_"Go forward again... Ballora is behind you. She is afraid of the scooping room... she will not follow you..."_**

Leo ran the rest of the way, signaling for Percy and Jason to do the same. They finally reached the end vent, where they rested for a bit, trying to catch their breath.

"Dude... that was TERRIFYING!" Jason said. Percy nodded agreement.

"Easy for you to say... Baby told me that she was right in FRONT of me!" Leo exclaimed. Jason and Percy stared at him with wide eyes.

"Know what? I think Leo's got it worse," Percy said. Jason nodded.

"Yeah, I mean..." he smirked. "He IS the one hearing voices."

"Shut up," Leo laughed, pushing Jason playfully. Leo felt rested, now, and started crawling through the vent. They arrived in a circular chamber with Ballora's and Funtime Freddy's parts scattered across the floor. There was a giant metal claw right in front of them, with windows right behind it. When they entered, the vent they crawled through closed shut.

_"Warning: you have entered a highly dangerous area. You have entered from maintenance hatch 1B, reserved for cleaning and repair of the scooper. Entering this side of the room is strictly prohibited by unauthorized personnel-PSH."_

Handunit was there and gone in a flash, replaced via static by none other than Circus Baby, now over the intercom.

_"You are in the Scooping Room now,"_ she said. Leo clenched his fists.

_"Funtime Foxy has already been here today."_

There was a fan spinning above them, and when Baby mentioned Foxy, the light passed over its' scattered body parts.

_"Funtime Freddy has already been here today."_

Leo glanced nervously at his body, laying in pieces.

_"Ballora has already been here today."_

Leo frowned. It already didn't make any sense that Ballora was in Funtime Auditorium, but now he finds out that Ballora was scooped today?

_"Circus Baby has already been here today."_

That's when it hit him: the realization that should have been sucker-punching him in the gut since he stepped in the elevator that night.

"We've been tricked," he breathed. He turned to his friends, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Leo. Jason started looking around the room for any possible exit while Percy stabbed his sword into the sealed vent. It didn't even budge.

Leo turned back to the giant metal claw, his hair on fire in fear. His eyes drifted to the window, where he thought he saw a vague silhouette standing there, looking in at them.

_"I've been out before,"_ said Baby, but Leo suspected that it wasn't really her. _"But they always put me back. They always put us back inside... there's nowhere for us to hide here... there is nowhere to go... when we look like this..."_

Leo took a shaky breath. That... THING in the window... it must have a voice imitation feature. Leo felt his eyes water. How could he have been so stupid? How could he so blindly follow something that didn't feel right?

_"But if we looked like you, then we could hide... if we looked like you, then we would have somewhere to go."_

Leo thought he could see the figure in the window a bit better. It looked like a mess of metal and wires in the shape of a body. It's face was stark white and had two yellow pinpricks for eyes.

Leo heard four familiar beeps. He turned to Percy and Jason, who had approached him silently. None of them said a word.

Leo turned back to the scooper and closed his eyes as he saw it lurch forward. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, with his arms being brought up to protect his head, and Percy and Jason reaching out to grab Leo.


	7. The End pt 2- The Fake Ending

HELLOOOO AGAIN!

I love Funtime Freddy. Uh, that aside, here's the next chapter! There's only one more for me to upload after this, so keep an eye out for that. Who's your guys' favorite FNAF character? Mine is Bonnie.

**To veryverynooob-Ek Yoon: I know... I'm planning on changing up all the typos and inconsistencies from my chapters once the final chapter is uploaded. **

_**Line Break**_

Leo blinked his eyes open, confused about where he was for a second. He had assumed that the scooper would kill him and his friends. Instead, he found himself back outside of Parts and Service.

"Alright Leo, where to?" Percy asked him. Leo blinked at him in confusion.

"Percy? How did we end up back here? I thought we were in the Scooping Room?" he asked. Percy and Jason both looked at him in worry.

"No..." Jason said slowly. "We just left Parts and Service. We were supposed to follow Baby to the Scooping Room."

Before Leo could say anything, he heard Baby's voice in his headset.

_"Go forward."_

Leo got a determined look in his eye and ran straight forward, not bothering to wait for further instruction from Baby. He knew where she would tell him to go, and he knew that it would lead to their deaths. He only hoped that this wasn't some kind of _Final Destination_ crap. That was the LAST thing they needed.

"Leo, wait!" Jason called. Leo had no intention of stopping or slowing down.

He felt a vent within his reach and pushed it open, dropping down into the room and taking in his surroundings. Jason and Percy dropped in beside him.

**"Access Granted."**

"This is the Scooping Room?" Percy asked.

"Not even close" Leo said. There were three monitors showing static on their screens sitting on top of a desk. A poster featuring Circus Baby was right beside the monitors and above that was a vent. Leo pushed the red button beside the vent, which closed it.

"Wait... Leo, if this isn't the scooping room, then where are we?" Jason asked. Leo saw an I-pad like object the floor and picked it up, scrolling through the map featured on it. The time read _12:00AM._

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "But its definitely better than the Scooping Room."

Leo even smiled when Handunit came on.

_"It seems that you have accidentally wandered into a restricted area. Due to the sensitive nature of the materials that you may be exposed to here, you will not be allowed to leave until the cleanup crew arrives at 6:00AM, so hang tight. Rest assured that you will be promptly rescued, fired, then sent home."_

"Fine by me!" Leo yelled angrily. He noticed a keypad beside the Circus Baby poster and a little golden bear plush with a purple top hat cradling some kind of walkie-talkie. He also noticed doors to either side of them with red buttons like the vent.

_"Thank you for being an employee. We hope that your experience has not been as regrettable as ours."_

"Here's how my experience went," Leo said, holding up his hand and making a gesture that would have made poor Hazel faint. Even Jason had to gasp.

Leo looked back down at the I-pad thing, realizing that he was looking at the layout of the building.

_"Why didn't you trust me?"_ Circus Baby asked over the intercom. Leo changed cameras, trying to see if he could spot the Scooping Room. To say he was angry would be an understatement.

_"Why didn't you trust me?"_

She sounded less hurt this time and more condescending. Leo almost sent a flaming ball down the hallway just to shut her up... or to shut up whatever it was that was speaking.

"Yeah, Leo... why didn't you trust her?" Jason asked. Leo ripped the headset off his head and threw it onto the ground.

"Cause that isn't Baby," he said. "She was already sent to the Scooping Room and killed. Whatever is speaking to us is just a pile of spaghetti wires!"

"Is that a real thing?" Percy asked. Leo switched the cameras again.

"You don't wanna know," he said.

Leo flipped to one last camera before sighing and setting the I-pad down.

"Maybe we should just-"

Leo was cut off by the sound of metal scraping nearby. Percy and Jason leaned over Leo's shoulder to get a look at the screen when Leo picked up the I-pad again. He flew through the cameras, finally landing on the vent cam, where the white-faced spaghetti monster from before was lying down inside.

"Percy, the vent," Leo said. Percy nodded and pushed the red button, closing the vent.

"Why didn't you believe me?" it asked in Baby's voice. Leo glared at the screen.

"Stay out of our faces," he shouted at the vent. There was a bang, which made Jason stand up with his sword in his hand, but there was no other sound.

Leo checked the camera again, but the Joker wannabe was still there. He set the camera back down and shook his head at Percy, who walked away from the vent. Leo glanced at the power on the I-pad:_ 80%._

Leo wondered vaguely what would happen if the power reached _0%_, but decided that he didn't wanna know.

After about an hour, Leo clicked through the cameras again, seeing no Noodle Party in the vent. He gestured for Percy to go ahead and open said vent, because now they were down to _60%_ at only _1:00AM_. With a sigh, Leo set down the I-pad and stood up, stretching his sore limbs. Jason was guarding the hallways, making sure that Clown-face couldn't get inside. If Leo knew Jason, which he did, he knew that Jason was ready to slice whatever stepped foot through that doorway.

Another hour passed before they heard anything else, and even then, it was just the dude chilling in the vent again.

"Is it just me, or is this kind of boring?" Leo asked. Percy and Jason agreed with him. Maybe if they were dealing with more than one crazy, glitchy robot, it would be more of a challenge, and much more terrifying. With only one Chinese noodlehouse's nightmare to deal with, it wasn't exactly making their hearts thump.

"We need you so that we can leave," said Noodle McGee. Leo rolled his eyes.

"You know what would be helpful?" he asked.

"What?" Jason asked him.

"Something entertaining?" Percy suggested, but Leo shook his head.

"No... well, yes, but no. We need this dude's name," he said. "I'm running out of things to call him."

"I'll look for something," Percy offered, and he ran out the door before Jason and Leo could stop him.

"Put on the headset!" Leo called after him. Percy ran back into the room, grabbed Leo's discarded headset, and took off again. The two remaining demigods sighed.

"We need you so that we can hide."

"Dude, you aren't fooling anyone!" Leo shouted at the vent. "Just shut up!"

"We need you..."

Leo groaned and rubbed his eyes. It was only _2:00AM._

"...So that we can look like you."

"Bro, just stop!" Leo said, but he started wondering. What were they planning on doing?

Leo decided that now was as good a time as any to think about their plan. The scooper was supposed to have killed them, but what exactly did it to? When you scoop something, you grab it and set it to the side, making the object you were scooping hollow...

Which meant that if the scooper was going to hollow them out, it would leave a bloody mess and some empty skin.

Or a suit that a crazy endoskeleton could fit into and control...

"Oh, gods..." Leo said. Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "I just figured out their whole plan."

Leo explained it to Jason while VentMan kept speaking.

"If they find us like this, we won't be able to try again."

When Leo finished explaining everything to Jason, Percy ran back into the room, panting like a dog.

"Percy? Is everything alright?" Leo asked. Percy nodded and waved his hand nonchalantly.

"I... found out... his name," he panted. "It's Ennard."

"Ennard?" Leo asked.

"How do you know?" Jason asked. Percy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Blueprints... didn't have a chance to grab them," he said. He smiled sheepishly. "I may have gone somewhere I'm not supposed to..."

"Well, this place is kind of somewhere we're not supposed to be," Leo pointed out. He pushed the button to close the other door when he heard something coming.

"If they find us like this, we won't be able to try again," Ennard repeated in Baby's voice. Jason pulled Percy away from the door while Leo checked the cameras.

"Leo figured it out," he said, and proceeded to tell Percy about Leo's idea. Leo opened the door and sat down, listening to Jason.

"You mus-"

This silenced the demigods. Baby's voice just cut off. Then he spoke again, this time not sounding so much like a victim.

**"You must let us inside the room."**

Leo gulped and checked the cameras again. Ennard was standing by the right door. There was squeaking, and Leo nodded to Jason to close the door.

_3:00AM._

**"Isn't this why you came here? To be with her again?"**

Leo furrowed his brow in confusion. Her? Her who?

"Who's she... sorry, HE... talking about?" Jason asked. Leo shrugged.

"I dunno," he said. "I have no idea what it's talking ab-"

Leo cut himself off with a gasp.

"The little girl," he whispered. Percy and Jason gave him more worried looks.

"Little girl?" Percy asked. Leo nodded.

"Guys, I've been hearing a little British girl's voice this whole time," Leo said. "I have no idea who she is or why she's important, and I have no idea why Ennard seems to think I know her, but I think it's talking about her!"

"Wait," Percy said. "Didn't Baby mention something about a little girl? When she was onstage, she heard music down the hallway and was counting kids."

"And when it came down to one kid, it was a little girl," Leo finished. Jason looked between both of them.

"Are you saying that Baby met the little British girl that you've been hearing?" he asked.

"It's possible... I mean, the girl said that she wanted to watch one of the animatronics that was female and could make balloons," Leo said. Percy's eyes widened.

"When I was looking at the blueprints, I saw the ones for Baby and she had some kind of oxygen tank built into her," he said. "It's probably for inflating balloons."

**"I don't understand,"** said Ennard, still using Baby's voice. There was more squeaking, this time coming from the left door. Leo was quick to close it. Ennard didn't say anything after that.

_"Hello?"_

Leo gasped.

"T-that's her!" he shouted. "Ennard has some kind of voice imitation feature!"

Percy and Jason went silent. Leo searched the cameras for Ennard, but he wasn't showing up on any of them.

_"Hello?"_

She was a little more insistent that time, but Leo refused to lose his resolve. Ennard still wasn't showing up on any of the cameras.

_4:00AM._

_"Hello?"_

She sounded a bit more hesitant this time, and Leo finally found Ennard. He looked up and pointed at the right door, which Percy closed.

_"I don't understand! I know it was an accident..."_

"What was an accident?" Jason asked, but he didn't get any response.

"27% left on the I-pad," Leo announced. He gave his friends a nervous look. "Four in the morning."

_"Everything is okay... I'm still here..."_

"In the building?" Percy asked. Leo frowned. That didn't sound right...

Leo looked at the cameras and yelped in surprise.

"Guys, he's getting insistent!" he said. "Left door!"

Jason rushed to the left door and pushed the button. Leo switched between cameras, seeing Ennard gone.

"Go ahead and open it," Leo said. "We're down to 17%."

Every time they heard squeaking, Leo would check the camera. Every time he checked, Ennard would be sitting at a door, ready to enter. Percy was in charge of the right door while Jason guarded the left.

_5:00AM._

Ennard was right in front of the vent. Leo reached up and closed it quickly.

_14%._

_"Why won't you let me inside?!"_

Leo opened the vent and looked at the left door. Jason quickly pushed the button.

_"Isn't this why you came here? To be with me again?"_

"Ennard, I don't even know who she is!" Leo exclaimed.

_"We NEED you so that we can LEAVE!"_

She sounded angry now. Leo, Percy, and Jason were rushing around, trying to savor as much power as possible.

_5%._

_"We NEED you so that we can HIDE!"_

_4%_

_3%_

_2%_

_1%…_

Leo waited with bated breath. His eyes didn't drift from the I-pad screen, and he could feel Percy and Jason on either side of him, all eyes trained on the I-pad.

_6:00AM._

Leo released the breath he had been holding, relieved. He sent a small smile in his friends' direction. The two jumped back and started screaming and whooping in celebration, but Leo frowned and leanedloser to the left door. He heard Circus Baby's voice again.

**"I will find a way out."**

Leo should have been scared or felt threatened. Instead, he smirked triumphantly.

"Not today," he said. He stood up and joined in the celebration.


	8. The End pt 3- Minigame

This is it. The final chapter.

_**Line Break**_

It had been two weeks since Leo was fired from Circus Baby's Rental and Murder Station. He, Percy and Jason had practically run home after their final shift. Everyone at Camp Half-Blood was concerned, of course, and they just happened to be having a friendly visit from Camp Jupiter at the time, so that was a fun explanation...

Of course, the trio saved the REALLY juicy details for the rest of the Seven. They were hanging out in Bunker 9 when Piper threatened the Handunit with bodily harm if he hired Leo again. Leo had had to quickly reassure her that Handunit was an A.I over the intercom, but she was hearing none of it.

Jason had taken over by revealing that the true mastermind behind everything was none other than the Herald of Voices, Ennard. Hazel checked them over for injuries, found none, and gave each of them a big hug. Even Frank seemed thrilled to see Leo was alright.

Nico joined them a little later. Leo had taken the opportunity to ask him about the little girl, but Nico said that he couldn't find the little girl he was describing. Nico explained that people went to whatever afterlife they believed in when they died, so it was possible that she just wasn't in the Underworld with Hades. Nico left afterwards.

Leo sighed, thinking about the little girl. It always gave him a headache. The rest of the Seven decided that keeping an eye on the trio would be a good idea, so when Leo sighed, Piper put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Still thinking about her?" she asked. Leo nodded glumly.

"I have no idea what happened to her..." he said. "And I have no idea why Ennard thought I know her..."

"Well, it's no secret that Ennard is a mess" Percy said. This made Leo snort in amusement while Jason flicked Percy. There was a knock at the door, and everyone turned to see who it was.

Will and Nico were standing at the entrance to Bunker 9 with a box between them. It was about as tall as them, and wider than them combined. When Leo stretched his senses, he could feel that it was an old arcade game.

"Hey guys," Will greeted. He got many friendly greetings back. "Package for Leo."

"Bring it over," Leo said. He got up to help them. Once they got the box inside, Will and Nico left.

"Who wants to bust it open?" Leo asked. Annabeth's hand was the first one in the air. She pulled out her drakon-bone knife and sliced easily through the box. It took a while to get the cardboard apart, but when it was finally gone, Leo, Jason, and Percy stared dumb-founded at the game sitting before them.

"Circus Baby's Cupcake Delivery?" Percy read. Leo took a deep breath and looked for an address on the dismantled carboard box, but there was nothing. Leo stood back up and stared at the blinking screen.

"Should we play it?" Frank asked. Leo took another deep breath and pressed start. He was playing as a pixelated Circus Baby. There were two grass platforms to jump on, and a box with a cupcake on the top platform. Leo jumped up and collected the cupcake, continuing to the next frame. There were two children wearing green shirts. He looked at the controls and saw a button labeled "throw." When he pressed it, a cupcake shot out of Circus Baby and to one of the kids, giving him a big smile and turning his shirt pink.

"Ok, so that's how you play," he thought aloud. He continued playing, eventually getting a blue cupcake that divided into three. He fed those to all the kids, then collected a green cupcake that kind of went through the kids. He ran out of cupcakes to give away, and a big "GAME OVER" appeared onscreen.

"Maybe you should run out of cupcakes before collecting any new ones," Annabeth suggested. Leo nodded and tried again. This time, there was an ice cream that he could collect at the end.

"Now what?" he asked. Percy stuck his hand in the air like a kindergartner.

"You know how sometimes there are hidden areas behind the starting point in these old games?" he asked. Leo nodded, then pressed restart. He tried again, making his way to the last kid with the extra cupcake. He ran all the way back to the start, almost running out of time.

The music got much quieter as he made his way back. When he got there, the background moved to signify that he was, in fact, entering a new area.

There were no kids nearby, but Leo's character set the ice cream on the ground and waited.

"Wait... Leo, does this seem familiar to you?" Percy asked. Leo's heart started pounding.

"'There were four, then three, then two, then one... something happened when there was one...'" Leo recited. The others gave him strange looks, but Percy spoke, too.

"'A little girl...'"

Jason, Hazel, Piper, Frank, and Annabeth gasped when a little girl appeared slowly onscreen. Leo's hair started smoking.

"'My stomach opened, and then there was ice cream'," Leo remembered. Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen, nervously watching the little pixelated girl walk slowly towards the ice cream. When she finally reached the cone, the screen turned black. Baby's eyes disappeared. Suddenly, there was a distorted scream as the top half of Baby's body leaned back and a metal claw shot out, grabbing the little girl. This made the demigods all scream.

_It was an accident..._

_Daddy won't let me..._

So it WAS the little British girl. Her dad built Baby and wouldn't let her near it. He must have known what would happen... the little girl didn't listen, and was alone with Baby... which means...

She was dead because of her father. But Ennard kept saying that Leo was there to be with her again... Ennard must have been confusing him with the little girl's father... but who was he? A video came up on the screen. A smiling man wearing a purple shirt stepped out of a house and started walking down the street. People were smiling and waving at him.

"Guys... Look," Leo said. The demigods calmed down and watched the screen once again. The man walked to the end of the street, and the screen reset back to the house. Nothing changed.

However, the third time the cutscene played, the man looked a little paler... a lot more sickly. The people in the background were all smiling and waving except for one man wearing green. He looked a little suspicious of the man walking across the screen.

When the cutscene restarted again, Leo lost his breath. The man in the purple shirt was looking a lot more green, with more background people looking suspiciously at him.

The next version of the cutscene had less people, but by this point, everyone was giving him strange looks. The man wasn't smiling anymore, and his skin was definitely losing its color. He had one yellow pinprick in his eye socket.

The cutscene replayed again, and this time, Leo's eyes widened in shock. He heard Piper and Hazel gasp behind him, and in the corner of his eye, he saw Jason grip the corner of the console tightly. The man's skin was a dark, sick shade of purple. There was a smile on his face, and two yellow dots for eyes instead of just one. The background people were hiding and frowning, or just missing.

This time, the cutscene featured one guy in a green shirt hiding behind a building. The man's skin was the same shade of purple as his shirt. He was hunched over and walking slowly, his eyes were trained forward, and the smile was still on his face.

Halfway through the ending of the cutscene, he stopped and started shaking violently. Leo leaned forward to watch. The man's eyes disappeared. His head shot upward so fast that his neck should have snapped. Something was going on in his chest area.

The happy music stopped, and the man bent forward. Something gray shot out of his mouth and escaped into the sewer grate that was built into the sidewalk.

When it shot out, everyone gasped except for Leo, Jason, and Percy, who knew what was going on. They knew that this man onscreen could have been them.

Baby's voice popped through the console, making the seven except for Leo back off. Leo just clenched his fists and glared.

_"You won't die... You won't die... You won't die... you won't die... You won't die, you won't die..."_

Baby kept repeating this line over and over again until her voice started overlapping. Suddenly, the purple man on the screen stood up straight, the lights in his eyes reigniting. Eyes popped open in the sewer grate. Then, the screen faded to black.

_**Line Break**_

That's that. Thanks for reading this thing all the way to the end! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry this ending wasn't very long, and I apologize if it wasn't quite what you were expecting. But, hey, now all there is left to do is fix some errors in the other chapters, then I'll be done with this story for good.

-Sweet


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